Idle thoughts on blogging

Just lately, I've been catching up on my blog reading. It's been a few weeks since I actually read everything I know is there to read, and I'm working on it, really I am. So I know that this is really late, but then I'm only skimming the edge of someone else's discussion here so maybe that doesn't matter.

A while back, folks were talking about the increasing number of woman-oriented comic blogs, a number of which focus on hot and/or controversial issues (and therefore tend to evoke some rage among readers and within commentary, as any media would which drew one's attention to hot and/or controversial issues), and the notion that it's harder for those blogs that take a less heated approach to get a hearing in the community.

I will grant you that I am no expert on activism for any cause. And (as you can tell by a brief glance at my blog) I'm a pretty quiet sort. I'm hard to offend. When I am offended I tend to figure that the offense was based on a misunderstanding rather than intent. I honestly assume the best of people. (I'm known for this. I gather that it can be annoying. :)) I don't argue much in real life, and I don't do it online. It's just not in my character.

That doesn't mean that I don't see the point when I read the folks whose focus and approach is different. That I don't see why these folks are angered and outraged, or that I don't think it's justified. Or that I don't appreciate it when someone brings something questionable to my attention, because I do, whether or not I personally agree with their point (sometimes I do, sometimes I don't). That sort of discourse may not be in my own nature, but I have plenty of friends to whom it comes very naturally, and the anger doesn't seem to impede their reasoning one bit.

That's not really what I sat down to write about, though.

The blogging world is a strange place. The term "blog" includes many different sorts of writing. While clearly if you've got a public blog, you're writing (at least on some level) for an outside audience, that doesn't mean that every blogger has the same view of that audience. Some blogs feature writing that's very much aimed at the public, in the same way that a magazine would be. The focus is primarily external from the get-go, and some of these blogs in fact include external material--news or interviews, for example. These blogs tend to be more focused, more reasoned, more fully edited before posting, but can still include some strongly-worded sentiments. A blog of this sort occupies mindfully public space.

Other blogs are really just personal blogs that the writer chooses to share with anyone who may be interested. The focus is primarily internal, and there's a strongly-implied sense of "the opinions expressed herein are strictly the writer's own". The writer is generally happy to have commentary, to enter a discussion with others, but a lot of the time the writing doesn't stand up to harsh critique--and it shouldn't have to. These blogs sometimes include a wide range of topics including personal, diary-like posts. They tend to be more direct, more spontaneous, more from-the-heart. A blog of this sort, while certainly public in the sense that anyone can read it, tends to contain conversations more of the sort you'd have with friends over coffee--potentially insightful, but also to some degree socially-motivated and informal.

And there's nothing wrong with either--I read comic blogs of both sorts regularly. (I'd say that Brainfreeze falls somewhere in between, but is probably a bit closer to the latter in that I don't edit the hell out of what I write here.) I don't think I have the same expectations of both, though. If I know that a blog I read is more of an online diary with some comic content, I'll take that into consideration when evaluating what is said there.

By the way, I'm not trying to be prescriptive here. I'm not saying that anger should be confined to the personal, because I don't believe that. Most blogs are primarily opinion, and angry opinion pieces have been a part of journalism since, well, probably forever.

What I am thinking is that, really, I don't see a lot in the primarily-public blogs that isn't pretty reasonable. If it's an angry post, it's almost always a rationally angry post. I'm wondering where the impression some seem to be under that women blogging about comics are universally rage-wielding harpies comes from, because honestly, I don't see that there.

Now, if you're talking about primarily-personal blogs, then yes, there's more likely to be "bitching and moaning," whatever that may mean :). It's appropriate for that sort of blog. But why would one be assuming things about primarily-public blogs based on what one sees in primarily-personal blogs? The standards of discourse are entirely different.